CIIE showcases China's opportunities shared with world

①: Photo shows the exhibition booth of Nippon Paint at the Intelligent Industry and Information Technology exhibition area of the eighth China International Import Expo. (People's Daily Online/Weng Qiyu)

②: A volunteer and a robot pose for a photo at the media center for the eighth China International Import Expo. (Xinhua/Chen Haoming)

③: An alpaca toy is exhibited at the eighth China International Import Expo. (Photo/Wang Chu)

④: Photo shows the exhibition booth of Fosun Pharma at the Medical Equipment and Healthcare Products exhibition area of the eighth China International Import Expo. (People's Daily Online/Weng Qiyu)

The eighth China International Import Expo (CIIE), being held from Nov. 5 to 10, brings together 155 countries, regions, and international organizations. It features 4,108 overseas enterprises and covers an exhibition area of more than 430,000 square meters, setting a new record in scale.

The CIIE is an important decision made by China to pursue a new round of high-level opening-up, and is China's major initiative to still widen market access to the rest of the world, said Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Backed by China's massive market, the first seven editions of the CIIE generated intended deals worth more than $500 billion.

As the world's first national-level exhibition dedicated to imports, the CIIE has not only promoted consumption upgrading but also helped numerous Chinese enterprises move up the global supply chain.

Transforming China's super-sized market into one shared by the world, the CIIE continues to provide market access, investment opportunities, and growth prospects for all participants. The eighth edition introduces a cross-border e-commerce selection platform to help small and medium-sized foreign enterprises enter the Chinese market more smoothly.

A total of 43 trade delegations and over 700 sub-delegations are attending this year's expo for procurement, with the number of professional visitors reaching 449,500—once again demonstrating the strong attraction of China's vast market.

Through the CIIE, which serves as a bridge, an increasing number of multinational corporations are integrating more deeply into China's market, strengthening local partnerships and accelerating collaborative innovation.

Having participated in every edition of the CIIE, U.S. medical device company Medtronic has unveiled nearly all of its latest medical products at the expo. At the first expo, Medtronic showcased its leadless pacemaker, compact enough to resemble a capsule and 93 percent smaller than traditional pacemakers. This innovative design made it a star exhibit, rapidly boosting its visibility and facilitating swift regulatory approval, market launch, and clinical application in China.

From exhibits to commodities, the CIIE's spillover effects have demonstrated the tremendous opportunities of the Chinese market, serving as a bridge connecting multinational corporations with Chinese consumers and reinforcing their confidence in investing in China.

In October 2021, Medtronic signed an investment agreement with Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area to advance the Medtronic Medical Science and Technology Industry Base. In June 2022, the company signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Changzhou National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, to build a tech park.

Photo shows the south square of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue for the eighth China International Import Expo. (Photo/Wang Chu)

The CIIE serves as a vital bridge connecting global innovation with the Chinese market, said Alex Gu, senior vice president of Medtronic, adding that through this open platform, the company has successfully transformed from an exhibitor to an investor, witnessing the leap from "bringing in" innovative achievements to "going global."

At the eighth CIIE, Medtronic looks forward to continuing to leverage the expo's influence and spillover effects to help more medical innovations originating in China benefit patients worldwide.

This year's CIIE features 461 new products, technologies, and services, positioning China's vast market as a global testing ground, profit center, and application hub for innovation.

People-to-people and cultural exchange activities at the CIIE have also flourished. The exhibition area for these activities has expanded from 7,000 square meters at the first edition to 38,000 square meters at the eighth, according to Liu Lei, senior manager at the operation center of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue for the expo.

"We have continuously innovated and enriched the forms and content of people-to-people and cultural exchanges," Liu said.

This year's CIIE hosts 57 booths dedicated to people-to-people and cultural exchange activities, where over 100 performances are scheduled, the highest numbers in the event's history.

The eighth CIIE also marks the first time that achievements of subnational cooperation are showcased. Four pairs of sister cities—Nanjing in Jiangsu and Stuttgart in Germany; Lhasa in Xizang and Kathmandu in Nepal; Dezhou in Shandong and Várpalota in Hungary; and Chongqing and Düsseldorf in Germany—will jointly present the diverse outcomes of their exchanges.

Hosting the CIIE embodies China's commitment to expanding opening-up and advancing mutual development with countries around the world.

Enterprises from 123 Belt and Road Initiative partner countries are participating in the eighth CIIE, up 23.1 percent from last year. A total of 163 companies from the least developed countries are also present, marking a 23.5 percent year-on-year increase. The African products section of the expo has been expanded, with the number of participating African enterprises rising by 80 percent from last year.